Josie and baby Titus are on their own. Giles decided to walk out on his new-born son and his partner, the day Titus was born. Immediately we don’t feel any sympathy for him, but a lot for the way that Josie, is trying to keep everything together. It seems that having a small baby can be a burden.
Especially if that burden is making a lot of noise and disturbing the neighbours. Josie is at her wit’s end with it all, trying to make enough puddings to sell at a Christmas market whilst Titus plays with saucepan and spoon… then her neighbour Harry, knocks the door.
It now seems that nothing is simple and that it might be nice to feel like being Josie again. Harry seems to want to like Josie too.
Giles is trying to manage his mother, who has a dislike for Rebecca his high maintenance girlfriend and the way he has treated his son. As Christmas is round the corner, a time for families, guilt seems to have caught up with Giles.
This is a delightful little novella and is a great example of Veronica Henry’s writing. I wanted to know more about Harry and his scriptwriting and some of the other residents that perhaps lived in the same crescent. For that I can let my imagination run, and be comforted in the fact Josie is cooking up delightful Christmas puddings which I swear you could smell and taste from just reading about them!
If you want to read something over Christmas and sometimes cannot find the time – this is an ideal read.
I have read a lot of short stories this year and especially lately, I think this is due to the capacity my brain has to come with not much else currently. However the stories I am reading are great and a tonic which I need right now.
The Book Jotter 